ABSTRACT
Static visual decorations and depictions offer point-in-time configurations that, save for attenuation due to the erosion of material, are constant. Decorations and depictions provide a means for preserving and sharing information as surely as do spoken languages. The most ancient visuals probably were produced to provide transitory amusement. Human tracings that were the by-products of other activities, such as footprints, may have been the original stimulation for the production of two-dimensional visuals. The invention of photography in the nineteenth century revolutionized the production of two-dimensional configurations. Sculpture offers three-dimensional configurations with a tactile dimension. The use of personal adornments to communicate one's character and identity is based on reflexive action wherein one adopts the standpoint of another toward oneself. The importance of personal adornments for social order is suggested by the fact that performing artists, temple and state elite, and political candidates. One of the first information technologies mastered by young children is picture books.
